Saturday, April 9, 2016

Bear Play Date

The Bear and his mate shall be meeting with another ephemerist to attend Mass and discuss items ephemeral and trivial. Therefore, his office shall be closed and there will be no one at his home. Except for attack goats, dogs, and a mean rooster, so don't get any ideas.

***

The Bear is still awake at 4:45 a.m. when the family must pull chocks at 6:30 for our little trip. He's long past that point where it just makes more sense to stay awake than go to sleep. (And he's mad that he will have to wait until 2017 to see Season Four of The Americans on Amazon Prime.)

He's pondering whether it is worthwhile to pick his Holiness' latest theological fanfic apart, when the task will likely take longer than the Bear's ability to hold an audience's attention. What is the shelf life of this as a story? But this is one of those things that a respectable ephemerist simply has to do due diligence on, don't you think?

Then again, there's nothing respectable about erratic crank "letters to the editor" from a moth-eaten old show-Bear.

The Bear wonders if during crises like this some people start wondering about things like ditching the Church; or realizing the Church was never the Church to begin with, and that bunch over there or maybe there is the Church. The Bear has three answers.

First, if it's an abomination before the Lord, that's on the men who made it and take advantage of it. Since the Bear's readers almost certainly do not include either, they're off the hook.

Second, this is why we nail our foot to the floor in front of our favorite pew and die there. If the Church were well-run, we wouldn't have to do that.

Third, life goes on, and how much actually affects us humble pewsitters? No doubt cause for further indignation, but there's never a shortage of that.

12 comments:

Oddly enough, I found AL encouraging. I think there's much evidence that Pope Francis would like to openly invite almost everyone to communion, despite unrepented sins. Can AL be interpreted to say that he did? Yes. Did he do so formally and unambiguously? No. Reminds me of St Thomas More's line in A Man for All Seasons: "An oath is made of words. It may be possible to take it." AL is made of words, and I can accept it. I was worried about whether that would be possible.

So, to my mind, the Holy Spirit did prevent Pope Francis from formally endorsing heresy - which given this papacy, is honestly reassuring.

I pray daily for Pope Francis, Pope-emeritus Benedict, and whoever will be the next Pope, that God will bless them and bless us through them.

I don't wish to be picky, but one of the problems is that PF would like to invite "almost everyone to communion, despite unrepented sins...". That is a deep and serious issue, because of what was said by St. Paul, I believe, about doing just that. We are not to receive Holy Communion unworthily (carrying unrepented sins with us) or we risk condemnation. This is clear by looking at Scripture and Catholic teaching as understood for 2000 years. So what PF may want to do, he cannot do in this case, and in many other cases as well. He is to hold the line and not change that 2000 years of teaching. That is his job.God bless YOU, Elizabeth.

It is very important that--time and sleep permitting--you not only comment on this "exhortation," but that you treat it with the full force of your ursine wit, wisdom, and insight. It matters not whether the headline writers of the sellout media (secular and Catholic) continue to pay attention; what matters is that the lives of the woodland dwellers are depending on it. I say this not only of you, but of all of us--each and every one. Our status, lowly or otherwise, is of little moment and is certainly no excuse. Christ's trumpet sounds; we cover our ears, eyes, and mouths at the risk not only of something as insignificant as the whole world, but of souls: our own not least of all. Has He not warned us that, if we keep silent, the stones themselves will cry out? He will then have good grounds to hold our own loyalty to Him as less, even, than theirs.

"Life goes on"? Does it, Bear? I guess it all depends on what one means by "life." For myself, I can only second the sentiments of King Tirian of Narnia as expressed to his valiant and best friend, Jewel the Unicorn (in C. S. Lewis' The Last Battle):

"Do you think I care if Aslan dooms me to death?" said the King. "That would be nothing, nothing at all. Would it not be better to be dead than to have this horrible fear that Aslan has come and is not like the Aslan we have believed in and longed for? It is as if the sun rose one day and were a black sun."

"I know," said Jewel. "Or if you drank water and it were dry water. You are in the right, Sire. This is the end of all things. Let us go and give ourselves up."

And this, from the pen of a Protestant.

To "give ourselves up" means to commit ourselves entirely to the will of the only one whose will never wavered from that of God, not even once--Mary Immaculate Herself. It means to make one's Total Consecration and to live by it, no matter what. We can nail our paws in front of our favorite pews, but we have no right to die there until the reason we are there in the first place is fulfilled at all costs.

So please, Bear, write it; post it; raise your bearish roar and let all others do--according to their own station and opportunities--do the same. I don't care how many people, of whatever degree of prestige, try to convince us that Amoris Laetitia doesn't "change doctrine:" it states that Christ's own words may be set aside or distorted, and we're not having that, Bear.

Hear hear! I heartily concur. No theologian I, no pundit or religious. But even from here my tiny brain and soul can detect the mighty stink of polluted thoughts and words, that will cause further ruination of souls and a stain on our faith and church. We need a St. Athanasius, an Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen! But the squirrel is grateful for at least the Bear and other creatures.

I am pretty sure I could not throw you enough fish in order to compensate for your study on this, but I will throw you a few. (And the reason I will not do a recurring throw is because I am from NC and have a mad-on with PayPal.)But if you decide not to invest your time, I am sure it will be a good reason and not because you are lazy! "We ought to obey God rather than men". Acts 5:29

Dammit, I just tried donating and it gave two options: PayPal or credit card. I choose credit card and I keep getting skunked up with PayPal. I did donate some time back using credit card and not through PayPal so I don't know what the deal is. I'll keep trying.

A pox on PayPal! and this from the New England area. I pray your governor holds tight, and that he is getting magnificent support from North Carolinians in the form of letters and phone calls. He is facing the fires of hell right now and may cave if he does not get massive support.

God, in His tender mercy brought me and my teenaged daughter to a Spanish language Mass this morning. I felt He was protecting us from the excessive fawning over everything Francis our deacon engages in when giving the homily at the later English Mass. I read the beautiful gospel in English and said a rosary during the homily. I felt very close to Our Lady and reflected that she will get me through this. I had great peace.

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